Independent Scotland could still rely on England to bail it out, says Alex Salmond

The SNP leader admitted the country could not afford to pay off its debts in a future financial crisis.

English taxpayers would have to bail out a future independent Scotland if it goes bust, Alex Salmond has claimed.

The SNP leader admitted the country could not afford to pay off its debts in a future financial crisis.

Mr Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister, said the “lender of last resort” would have to be the Bank of England.

Labour said it was “beyond belief” for Mr Salmond to claim English taxpayers should bail out Scotland.

The revelation came as Mr Salmond unveiled the independence question that would be put to voters in 2014.

The question will ask: “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?”

Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran said the independent Electoral Commission should be brought in to rule if the proposed question was fair.

She said: “Alex Salmond’s proposal to strip the Electoral Commission of its legal responsibility to rule on the question will fuel suspicion and is simply not acceptable.”

She added: “It is completely wrong to agree to a neutral referee but then stop it doing its most important job.”

But Mr Salmond said: “At the end of that period, in autumn 2014, people the length and breadth of our country will have their say in Scotland’s independence referendum.

“Independence, in essence, is based on a simple idea: the people who care most about Scotland, that is the people who live, work and bring up their families in Scotland, should be the ones taking the decisions about our nation’s future.

“No-one else is going to do a better job of making Scotland a success. No-one else has the same stake in our future. The people of Scotland should be in charge.”